The Guardians
by KyronP
Summary: As great evil rises, goodness must follow to keep it in check. When the evil witch Metallia escapes the supernatural prison she has been trapped in for the past several thousand years, this means that the reincarnated Guardians must choose between living the sheltered lives they've led or fight. Not just for themselves but for the fate of the planet!
1. Chapter 1

_D-Point, The North Pole_

Verticordia looked down at her beautiful creations: roses shouldn't have bloomed so deep into the North Pole. But, thanks to her magic, they did. Her mother had always loved roses, and that love had been passed on to her. There wasn't much in terms of natural beauty to her life, after all, hidden away as she was.

She looked to the other side of the chamber she was in, searching for the water pot. Her flowers were in need of some water. The pot was on the other side of the vast room and she felt much too lazy to walk there herself. So, instead, Verticordia reached out with the magic deep within her, and allowed it to flow across the room, lift up the pot, and bring it straight to her.

As she began to work, she hummed a familiar tune that she'd been singing the last few thousand years since she'd been there. She wondered what type of music had become popular in the world. Luna hadn't checked in for at least two or three hundred years, give or take a century or two. Yes, maybe the last time Luna had come visit, she had been going on and on about some man named Bach.

How long ago was that again? This far north, one lost track of such a fickle thing as time.

The door flew open and her dearest friend and adviser ran into the room with uncharacteristic panic in his gray, almost silver eyes. Despite the fact that they had not been at war with anyone for countless years, Artemis took his role as one of the Royal Guard very seriously and was always dressed in military attire: a very glamorous, Corinthian helmet; a silver breastplate; a white tunic; and silver, open boots. And he was always carrying his weapons of choice: a bow and a quiver full of magical arrows.

"Your Highness," he yelped, "there's activity in the pars rustica."

"What sort of activity, Artemis?" she asked, still watering her roses. There was always some activity down there. Their prisoner was a restless soul.

"Her magic has gotten considerably stronger," said Artemis. "Haven't you been feeling it?"

Verticordia had been feeling it rising, trying to push its way past the chamber, out into the greater world. This was a sudden change. Normally their prisoner occasionally yelled protests at poor Artemis. But that was as much activity that ever came out of her. There was a sudden change in the last seventeen years or so and her powers had been increasing.

Verticordia put down her pot and walked out of the room, heading towards the prison section of their vast villa, all the while thinking about what could be different about the last seventeen or eighteen years in comparison to the last several thousand. And only one thing made sense: it was happening. It was finally happening. The moment she, Artemis and Luna had all been waiting for and dreading: the other Guardians were rising. And with them, so would their greatest enemies.

Queen Selene had only postponed the war for a few thousand years: she hadn't stopped a thing. And she was no longer. It would fall on Verticordia and the other Guardians to put this to rest. She wondered what they were like, the other Guardians. Did they have peaceful, happy childhoods? Parents who loved them? She hoped the last eighteen years of their lives had gone well, because they were suddenly going to be thrust into something more important than they could have ever imagined.

Once she got to the prison, she took a deep breath and opened the door, pulling her shawl closer to her body. The entire villa was protected by magic that kept it warm. Except for Metallia's prison. Metallia seemed to enjoy the cold and it came off of her skin, making any room she inhabited just as cold as the rest of the North Pole, if not colder. The cell was cramped and sparsely furnished, which is more than she should have gotten. Had Verticordia had the power, she would have killed the evil witch. Queen Selene hadn't been able to do it herself, which is why she'd banished Metallia to this prison.

Metallia was hunched in a corner of her prison cell, her back to the tall, enchanted bars keeping her from getting out. And she was speaking to herself. Verticordia couldn't understand her.

"Metallia," said Verticordia, shivering just a little.

"It's Queen Metallia," said the prisoner, rising from her corner and charging towards the bars, stretching her long arms out to scratch at Verticordia, but missing by a few inches.

She looked so feral! Her auburn hair was ridiculously long and fell all the way to the ground. Her tunic was ripped and tattered-she'd absolutely refused a change of clothes for at least the last ten years-and she was walking around without any sandals on. She looked like an absolute lunatic.

"You're no queen, Metallia," countered Verticordia, sitting down on a very cold chair. "Your power is growing. So I'm assuming you've been in contact with her."

"For her whole life," said Metallia, with a wicked smile on her once pretty face. "A mother's love can reach anywhere."

"I used to know," said Verticordia, scowling at the older woman. "Until you killed mine."

"Actually, that was my kill. I'm surprised at how easy it was to kill who was supposed to be a Goddess."

Verticordia turned around and looked into the haunting violet eyes of none other than Beryl. She was definitely dressed differently, wearing a top that exposed most of her midriff and what looked like trousers, or at least those were what Luna had told her men were wearing instead of togas.

She looked exactly the way she did all those years ago: same eyes; same cascades of beautiful, red hair; same angelic face, but a heart as black as night. Verticordia hadn't seen Beryl in so long, and yet nothing seemed to have changed.

They were both their mothers' daughters.

Beryl was holding Artemis by the throat and blood was beginning to pour down his neck as her nails pierced his flesh. He was trying to fight her off, but she was clearly too strong for him.

"I can't believe you're still here," said Beryl, with a faux look of sadness on her face. "Though you do look rather divine. I swear you haven't aged a day, Cordy."

Verticordia looked at her friend nervously and then clasped her hands together. Suddenly, a sword appeared in her hand and she swung at Beryl, who dodged it but dropped Artemis. Artemis immediately rose and launched an enchanted arrow at Beryl while Verticordia went in for another strike.

"You've gotten very good at using that," said Beryl, with a mischievous smile.

"It's been a few thousand years," answered Verticordia, narrowly missing her again.

Beryl quickly went over to her mother's cell and connected hands with her. "Mother! It's been much too long."

"Happy eighteenth birthday, my dear," said Metallia, with a grin. "Now, let's get out of here."

With their magics combined, there was a blinding light that forced Verticordia to hide her eyes and fall to the floor. And when she reopened them, both Beryl and Metallia were gone!

"No!" she yelled, getting to her feet.

Artemis was also on the floor, hiding his face. But he removed his hands and rose as well.

"We've...We've failed," he said, in a small voice.

She shook her head. "No. We haven't. This was meant to happen sooner or later. The fight just has to begin now."

Verticordia led Artemis out of the room and into the pars urbana, to their rooms, and instructed him to gather some things. It made no sense that they remained in the villa any longer: the villa had been built to keep Metallia locked up. But with her escape, none of that mattered now. Now all that mattered was gathering the other Guardians and putting a stop to Metallia and Beryl for good.

Once she was finished putting some things together, she went to Artemis' room.

"Scry for Luna," she commanded. "We're going to meet her. The other Guardians will be awakening soon. The time has come."


	2. Chapter 2

_Shiba-Koen, Tokyo, Japan_

 **September 10** **th**

Ayumi 'Ami' Mizuno opened her eyes with a series of slow blinks as she always did and stretched across her bed to get her glasses. She couldn't see a thing without her glasses. She still hadn't properly opened her eyes yet when she'd shoved the oversized glasses onto her face, not sure what she was going to be getting up for. It was Saturday, after all.

She was supposed to have tried to stay up till midnight last night, but she'd been a little too tired and she'd fallen asleep. She hated the fact that she was always so tired. But between classes at UTokyo and working at the research lab on campus all the time, she was always too tired.

Her tummy grumbled just a little and she knew that she had to get up and head to the kitchen. So she opened her eyes...but couldn't see a thing. How odd! She lifted the glasses and she could see very clearly. And she looked out her window-which gave her a perfect view of Tokyo Tower as it was almost literally across the street-and for the first time in her life she could actually see it with her own two eyes. No glasses or contacts. Her own two eyes!

It was a miracle!

She put her glasses down on the nightstand again and hopped out of her queen-sized bed, her feet padding against the heated floor as she made her way through the cavernous condo towards her mother's room, which was on the other side. She tapped on the door a few times before she opened it, and Dr. Mizuno was busy at her laptop despite still being in bed.

She gave her daughter a cursory look before she returned to her work.

Ami and Dr. Mizuno didn't have the best of relationships. It wasn't that she didn't like Ami exactly, but she was just too busy all the time to be around. She was a much sought-after cardio-thoracic surgeon, always traveling, always busy, always on call. This had always meant that Amy had been left in the care of her grandparents, who lived out in Chiba, or alone once she was old enough.

"Mom, do you notice anything?" she asked, sitting on the edge of her mother's bed.

"Can't say that I do," said the doctor, still typing away.

"I don't need my glasses, Mom! It's a miracle."

This captured Dr. Mizuno's attention and she put aside her computer and crawled across the bed to Ami. She grabbed Ami's face and began inspecting her eyes, as if she expected to find out how this had happened by looking hard enough. Ami's eyesight was famously horrendous. For it to heal itself-overnight at that-didn't make sense.

Deciding that it wasn't worth it, Dr. Mizuno instead played with Ami's short hair. "I wish you hadn't cut your hair, Ami. You always had such beautiful hair."

Ami lightly swatted her mother's hand away. She'd cut her hair short because Dr. Mizuno had cut her hair short. She knew it was stupid and needy and childish. But she wanted to have something in common with her mom. They already didn't look that much alike-Ami was adopted. The least she could do was have a similar hairstyle to her mom.

"And spontaneous healing of the eye isn't a normal thing," said her mother, recoiling back to her place under the sheets. "We're going to have to see a doctor."

"Also, Mom," said Ami, standing up, "did you forget that it's my birthday today?"

"Of course not," said Dr. Mizuno, returning to her laptop. "Your gift is on the coffee table in the living room."

Ami quickly darted out of the bedroom, ran down the corridor and straight into the modern, spacious living room. On the mahogany coffee table was a simple, white envelope and she lunged at it. She sat down on the soft carpet next to the table as she ripped the envelope open.

There were two tickets to Hawaii in there.

She screamed out of sheer joy. Hawaii! Her mother had been promising to take her to Hawaii forever! But she'd always been so busy that she'd never actually done it! It meant a lot that her mother was going to make the time to take her to Hawaii. All of her friends had been there before-some multiple times-but she'd never once been there. She'd pretty much spent most of her life in Tokyo.

Ami got up and ran back towards her mother's room, but was so surprised when the large front door of their condo was suddenly careening towards her. She screamed, as it was only inches away from her face, and she closed her eyes. Suddenly she was back in the living room and the front door crashed through the living room door and slid across the floor, in pieces.

"What's happ-" she heard her mother call from the other side of the apartment.

But she didn't finish her question and, instead, began to scream.

Ami, who was still a little confused at how she'd ended up back on the carpet in the living room, got to her feet and ran out again, where she could see that her mother was being pinned down on the floor by a guy who didn't look that much older than Ami herself. And he looked really familiar.

Like Ami, he was Japanese, but he'd dyed his long hair into a golden blonde, some of which fell on her mother's anguished face, pinned as she was under the weight of this young man. He was dressed rather casually in a crisp, white T-shirt and some jeans and he lifted his head and smiled at Ami.

"Well, well," he said. "You must be the one I was sent here for."

She was about to pick up the landline and call for help but he pointed a finger at her and she was frozen in her place: she couldn't move a muscle.

"Not so fast," he said. "Where do you think you're going?"

He lifted himself off of Dr. Mizuno and started lunging towards Ami, but she closed her eyes again, and when she opened them, she was standing over her mother instead.

"How...How did you get here?" murmured Dr. Mizuno, as her daughter helped her to her feet.

"I've got no idea, Mom," answered Ami, holding tight to her mother's hand. "All I know is that this guy is dangerous!"

He turned to them again and stretched his hand out to Ami and her mother, freezing them in their place again.

"Teleportation, huh?" he said, slowly walking towards them. "Net trick."

Ami closed her eyes again and teleported back into the living room. But when she looked at her hand, her mother wasn't there. She'd teleported herself, but she hadn't been able to carry her mother with her. Why?

Her mother screamed again and when Ami ran into the corridor, the guy was standing behind her mother, his arm around her neck. Dr. Mizuno was trying to fight with him, but she couldn't really win: he was clearly too strong.

"Look," he said, "I don't see the need for her to get hurt. She's innocent in all this. If I'm right, the only thing she ever did was adopt a kid like you. She shouldn't have to pay because you're too coward to come with me."

"I don't understand," said Ami, grabbing her head. "I just don't! Why do you need me?"

"Maybe I can help with some of that."

Ami looked past her intruder at the most stunning girl she'd ever seen standing in the empty doorway of the condo.

She was bathed in the most beautiful golden light, and her hair was just as blonde and beautiful as that light. It fell in beautiful, curly cascades down to her waist. She was tall and very slim, yet statuesque and regal even. She was wearing a short, yellow, sleeveless tunic which was cinched at the waist with a large golden belt; some golden sandals that were tied all the way up her long legs, up to the knees; and a small, golden tiara was in her hair.

The beautiful girl stretched an arm out at the guy and he and Dr. Mizuno were flung into the living room, just past Ami, who followed. A few seconds later, the girl strolled into the room with her hands on her hips .

"Zoisite, you haven't changed a bit," she said, in perfect Japanese despite the fact that she wasn't Japanese at all. "Still doing Beryl's dirty work, I see."

He was stunned, his eyes wide open.

All of a sudden, there was a flashing blue light and another young man appeared: this one with long, silver hair. He glanced at them all nervously.

"Kunzite?" asked the blonde girl, flinching for a moment.

He put a hand on both Dr. Mizuno and Zoisite before they all disappeared into nothingness.

"Angelia," said the blonde girl urgently, gripping Ami by the shoulders, "I know you have no idea who I am or who that guy was. But all that matters now is that he's taken your mother and I'm here to help you get her."

"My name is Ami. Ami Mizuno."

"Fine. Whatever. Ami, you need to find your mother."

"I don't know how."

"Yes. You do. This is your gift. If you really want to find someone, unless they're really, really spelled, you can find them. And this is your mother you're talking about."

"Who...Who are you?"

"Oh," said the golden girl sheepishly. "I'm Verticordia."

"I'm so confused," said Ami, gripping her head. She could feel a headache coming on. "I don't understand what's happening."

"Ami, I need you to close your eyes. Relax. Think about your mother. Think about her face. Think about her scent. Think about her hair. Just think about her."

Ami took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking about her mother. She remembered that, before her father had died, they all three used to do so much together. Dr. Mizuno hadn't quite come into her career as much, so she still made time for Ami and her dad, who had been a really successful painter in his youth. Ami could remember them looking at cherry blossoms in the crowded Yoyogi Park during spring; and visiting the lakes near Mt. Fuji. She could almost smell her mother's Chanel perfume.

And just like that she knew where her mother was. And she could almost see her too. She was far away, but Ami knew it was her.

"I know where she is," she announced. "I could feel her."

"Take my hand," commanded Verticordia.

They connected hands.

"Now what?"

"Now you take me to your mother."

"Just like that?"

"Yes. Think about her and take me there. But just remember me, okay? Or else you'll end up there by yourself without any idea of how to defend yourself against...them."

Ami nodded and she could feel herself drawing nearer and nearer to her mother's location. And when she opened her eyes, she and Verticordia were standing in front of her bound and gagged mother. They were in a cramped, dark room with a series of weird symbols etched onto the walls.

Terror was on Dr. Mizuno's face as the girls helped her to her feet.

"Where are they?" asked Verticordia, as she removed the gag from Dr. Mizuno's mouth while Ami untied her. "The men who took you?"

"I don't know!" she said, tears streaming down her face. "Just...Just get me out of this place! I...I don't know what's happening!"

"We're still in Japan," said Ami suddenly. She didn't know how she knew but she knew. "We're in Ibaraki."

The door of the dark room was flung open and the guy who had attacked them before, Zoisite, was standing in the doorway.

"How did you get here?" he barked.

"Can we go now?" yelled Ami to Verticordia.

Verticordia clapped her hands together and a long sword suddenly appeared, and she swung at Zoisite with it, though he narrowly dodged it. He waved a hand at her and she was pressed against the wall of the small room.

"Who are you?" he asked, grabbing her by the face.

"Wouldn't you like to know," said Verticordia with a smirk.

She began to glow bright, blinding everyone in the room, and when she stopped glowing, she was back at Ami's side. Zoisite was on the floor in a ball: he'd been really close to her light so it seemed to have temporarily blinded him.

The other guy, the silver haired one who had taken Zoisite and Ami's mother away, ran into the room and, from his hands, produced a white ball that he tossed at Verticordia.

Instinctively it seemed, Verticordia flicked her wrist and the ball made a U-turn for him.

"Kunzite!" yelled Verticordia, stretching her hand out. The ball stopped in mid-air and when she clenched her fist, it disappeared. "Angelia, please get us out of here. Take us somewhere you feel safe."

Verticordia took Ami's hand and Ami took her mother's. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, they were at a lovely beach, water at their feet. There were birds in the sky. The weather was lovely.

"Don't let go yet," commanded Verticordia. She mumbled something to herself in a language Ami couldn't understand before she said, "Okay, we should be safe now."

Ami suddenly felt like the world was spinning. What was happening? Who was this girl? Why did she feel like she knew the guy who had broken into their condo? How did she travel from that dark room to what could only be Hawaii? None of it made sense!

She began to feel weak.

Her legs felt like Jello.

They began to shake and she began to fall into a deep, deep sleep...


	3. Chapter 3

Ami could hear the squawking of seagulls and feel a cool breeze brushing against her cheek. She slowly blinked and opened her eyes. And realized that she was in a strange room. Was she still in Hawaii? She closed her eyes again and looked deep into herself-the same way she had when she'd tried to find her mother-but she couldn't see her location anywhere.

She reopened her eyes, allowing the cool breeze to caress her. She was in a large bedroom. Rather elegant, she had to admit. The furniture looked as if it were antique but very well maintained. It had everything really: a large television, a comfortable sofa, its own walk-in closet and bathroom, marble floors. It was as nice as a hotel.

Ami got up and headed to one of the three, large windows. From the window she'd chosen, she could only see the ocean. And maybe the silhouette of some land in the distance. But it was really far away.

She was draped in a silk kimono and she tightened it just a little before she went to the large door and got out, running down the staircase. She passed several rooms before she got to what looked like the ridiculously large kitchen, where a woman was busy making an omelet.

She had headphones in her ears and she was shaking her narrow hips to the music she was listening to. Ami looked at her for a while. She was pretty and she had beautiful, silver hair despite the fact that she didn't look that much older than Ami: maybe she was in her early twenties? She must have dyed it that colour. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt and some boxers.

"Hello," said Ami. But the woman didn't hear her. So Ami went over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hello!"

The woman jumped and, almost in an instant, she was replaced by a tall, rugged guy. This guy had the same brilliant, silver hair. In fact, based on some of the features, Ami would have considered them to be twins.

Ami jumped back, shocked at the transformation.

"I'm so sorry," said the guy, in a very deep voice, taking his earphones out. "I didn't hear you."

"How...But...Weren't you a girl?" asked Ami.

"Oh, my power is shapeshifting," he said.

In a second, the boy was gone and the girl was back. "I can take pretty much whatever form I like. Today I felt like being a girl, at least up until you scared me. I'm Artemis, by the way."

Artemis extended a hand.

"Ami." She took the hand and pumped it twice. "Where are we?"

"Oh, this is Luna's private island," said Artemis, sliding her omelet onto a plate. "You can have this one, if you like. The Princess and Luna are out by the pool having theirs. Please join them."

"Oh, and your Japanese is really good," said Ami, as she took the plate.

Artemis laughed. "I can't speak Japanese. But we've all used a language spell, so that we're intelligible to everyone who hears us. But thanks, though."

Artemis waved in the direction of some large open doors, so Ami nodded and made her way out into the brilliant sun. Verticordia and another raven-haired young woman were sitting by the pool, indulging in their omelets. They were both in bikinis. Verticordia looked as beautiful as ever bathed in the sunlight as she was. She smiled when she saw Ami and waved at her.

The other young woman looked about the same age as Artemis. She was petite, with sharp, feline features. She had her raven hair pulled up into a messy bun and she was sitting by the pool with her feet submerged, though she was eating her omelet and sitting on the edge.

"You've finally gotten up," said Verticordia, who was seated on a chaise. She lightly patted the chaise next to her. "Come sit with us."

"Where's my mother?" asked Ami, as soon as she sat down. "The last I saw her, we were in Hawaii. Now we're here."

"Well, you've been out for a few days, Ami," said Verticordia, "but your mother is still in Hawaii. For her safety. And I left a spell on her that should make her undetectable to Kunzite and Zoisite."

"And I arranged to have all of her assets sold and her money sent to her over there," said the raven-haired woman. "I'm Luna, by the way. Wow, Your Highness. This really is Angelia."

"Angelia," said Ami, between bites of her omelet. "Who's Angelia?"

Verticordia and Luna shot each other some nervous looks before Verticordia said, "That's a very long story."

"Look, I have a lot of questions," said Ami. "I saw what you did back in Japan. You could move things with your mind, right?"

"Among other things," said Verticordia, before she took a sip of her mimosa.

" And that shining bright thing you did!" said Ami.

"Oh, that's nothing," said Verticordia, with a nonchalant wave of the hand. "Barely counts."

"And I...I know what I did. I mean, teleportation? And I knew where my mother was even though I shouldn't have. Though I don't know where we are now."

"Oh, I spelled this island ages ago," said Luna. "Nobody could find us here. We're safe."

"How was I able to do what I did? How were you able to do what you did?" asked Ami, putting her plate aside. She was too confused to eat. "Who were those guys who attacked us?"

"Haven't you ever wondered who your real parents were?" Luna suddenly asked.

Ami was surprised that Luna knew that she was adopted. But with some of the amazing things she'd seen recently, she shouldn't have been. Maybe Luna could read minds or something.

Ami hadn't known much about her birth parents. All her parents had told her was that she'd been found, abandoned. And she was taken to an orphanage, where the Mizunos had eventually adopted her. There wasn't much to know about her birth parents because they were impossible to find.

"Do you know who they are?" asked Ami.

"Well, who they were," countered Verticordia. "Ami, your power of teleportation-and the related translocation-are two of the gifts you've inherited from your bloodline. Your parents were King Hermes and Queen Hecate."

"King Hermes and Queen Hecate?"

"Yes," said Luna. "Yes, Your Highness. You were the Crown Princess of Mercury. At least before your people were destroyed by that evil Meta-"

Verticordia lifted a hand and Luna immediately hushed.

"Were you a Crown Princess too?" asked Ami of Verticordia.

The beautiful blonde nodded. "Yes. Of Venus. My mother was Queen Aphrodite and my father was King Hephaestus."

"Did all of the planets have kings and queens?"

Verticordia nodded. "It was basically a galactic kingdom. Each planet had its own King and Queen. But there was a High Queen-High Queen Selene-and her consort, King Helios. They lived on the moon and it was the capital of our civilization. High Queen Selene was my mother's elder sister."

Ami shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense. Humans can't live on the moon! Or Mercury or Venus or any of them!"

"Ami, you can teleport," said Verticordia, arching one of her perfect plucked eyebrows. "You think there isn't a spell to make space habitable to us? Mortals can't cast spells. But of course _we_ can."

Ami got up and ran back into the house, straight up into the room she'd left, and tossed herself onto the antique canopy bed. This was madness. Total madness. None of this could be real. Kings and Queens in space? But then she had teleported. She'd seen and done some ridiculous things. How could it all be untrue? It was so outlandish that it had to be true. Or else Ami was losing her mind.

She could feel her head pounding as she tried to process all of this information and then she felt the warm touch of someone stroking her hair. When she looked up, it was into the beautiful, sky blue eyes of Verticordia.

"You don't remember any of this, of course," she said to Ami, still stroking her hair. "The whole point of reincarnation is giving you a second chance. That's what High Queen Selene had wanted for you."

"Were you reincarnated too?"

Verticordia smiled that million dollar smile of hers. Ami imagined that she would have made a great model or actress.

"I wasn't. I've just been alive since our civilization died out. It's a long story."

"I just can't believe any of this," said Ami.

"You'll have to, Ami. Your parents' abilities are now becoming yours. And you're going to have to use them for the fight that we have ahead of us. And to gather the rest of our team."

"There are more of us?"

Verticordia nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Indeed. Till then, we're going to need to help you control your powers. After using so much without any formal training, you've actually been asleep for the last week. That's a week we aren't gonna get back. And you've got a lot of training to do. Our powers are rising and so are our enemies'."

"Zoisite and Kunzite?" asked Ami. "You seemed to know them well."

"I used to," said Verticordia, looking out the window. "A long time ago. Now get up, get dressed and meet me in the basement. We've got a lot to do!"


End file.
